Abigael Kaufman and Ivanhoe (©Shawn McMillen Photography) Washington, D.C . - The 55th annual Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) hosted its opening day at Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C. on Tuesday with a full day of hunter competition. The professional and amateur-owner riders showed throughout the day in the first classes of their divisions and will conclude their competition for championship honors on Wednesday. The children's and adult hunter riders competed for...

Welcome to the fourth installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or...

Eduardo Menezes & La Fleur 4 (Captured Moment Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - Del Mar Welcome Week comes to a close today, and we've had gorgeous weather, exciting competition and some truly memorable moments. Now, riders, horses, trainers and show staff are looking ahead to World Cup Week, which will feature the Grand Prix Hunter Derby Final, the Rancho Valencia World Cup Grand Prix of Del Mar and our spectacular (spooktacular!) Halloween celebration as well as many other special...

Elinor MacPhail and Rendezvous with Charly (Xpress Foto) Lexington, Ky. – National titles were awarded to riders on Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park upon the completion of the USEF National One-Star Eventing Championships. Held October 17-19 in conjunction with the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event & Team Challenge, 42 horse-and-rider combinations tackled the CCI1* in hopes of being crowned champion. The USEF National One-Star Championship title went to Elinor MacPhail (Bluemont, Va....

Tara Metzner and Fabricio (Captured Moment Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - Some of the region's top hunters competed under the lights tonight in the last qualifying Grand Prix Hunter Derby before the Final next week. Twenty-three entries took on the Autumn-themed course in the Haley Farms LLC Grand Prix Hunter Derby, Presented by Fleeceworks. Tara Metzner and Davlyn Farms' Fabricio wowed the judges and the crowd with a nearly flawless round, earning an average score of 99 to come out on...

Darragh Kenny and PROF DE LA ROQUE (AlCookPhoto.com) Harrisburg, Pa. - Ireland's Darragh Kenny was the crowned the 'speed demon' of the evening at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, capturing the $33,000 Keystone Classic Speed Stake with PROF DE LA ROQUE, owned by Postage Stamp Farm, LLC, as well as the Open Jumper Speed Championship with TOP GUN IV, owned by Oakland Ventures LLC. Fellow Irishman Alan Wade designed the course, which consisted of 13 obstacles set at 1.45 meters...

Susan Hutchinson and Sig Excel (Captured Moment Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - Large turn-outs for jumper classes kept the Del Mar Arena busy, and riders had to be exceptionally fast and accurate to finish in the ribbons in these highly competitive classes. Performance Working Hunters at both 3.3 and 3.6 also saw large classes and exacting competition. As the 1.35m Jumper Classic got underway this evening, 42 riders including veteran show jumping stars Will Simpson, Rich Fellers, Hugh Mutch,...

Conor Swail and GAME READY (AlCookPhoto.com) Harrisburg, PA - It was an exciting evening as some of the world's top riders competed in the $40,000 Pennsylvania 'Big Jump' competition. Ireland's Conor Swail and GAME READY, owned by Sue Grange, were last to go in the jump-off, and pulled out all the stops to clinch the win in 34.54 seconds at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. "It feels great to win", said Swail. "The horse is a very good horse, he's a fast horse and very...

Elkton, Md.- The Dutta Corp Fair Hill International began Thursday with the first half of the CCI2* field completing their dressage tests and U.S. entries taking initials steps toward 2013 USEF National Two Star Championship honors. Boyd Martin and Pancho Villa seized the lead following the first day of competition scoring 41.4 in front of the Ground Jury of Judy Bradwell and Bobby Stevenson. Martin (Cochranville, Pa.) and the Pancho Villa Syndicate’s 10-year-old Selle Francais cross...

Kelley Farmer and QUOTABLE on course (AlCookPhoto.com) Harrisburg, Pa.- QUOTABLE, an 8 year old gelding owned by DL Glefke & Kenneth Garber, and shown by Kelley Farmer, won the prestigious Grand Hunter Championship, sponsored by P.P.C. Lubricants, at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show today. The award of Grand Hunter Champion was presented to the horse that accumulated the most points in the Green Conformation Hunter, Regular Conformation Hunter, Green Working Hunter, or High Performance...